Assisted suicide bill threatens disabled

All of us, particularly those who have a chronic illness, are disabled, or are senior citizens, should look carefully at the pending assisted suicide bill S2259/A3328, euphemistically termed "Death with Dignity" by its authors.

The problems with this legislation are manifold. Given profit-driven health care, money already plays too large a part in our medical decisions. For example, in Oregon where assisted suicide is the law, two patients were informed that they could not receive coverage for their chemotherapy but could receive coverage for assisted suicide.

The threat to the disabled is real. In testimony on the assisted suicide experience in Oregon, Dr. N. Gregory Hamilton, a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and co-founder of Physicians for Compassionate Care, stated, "Experience in our state clearly demonstrates that once assisted suicide is institutionalized there can be no effective protection for the mentally ill."

Proposed safeguards simply do not work. For example, when a doctor refuses to administer lethal drugs, one can simply doctor-shop, and just like with abortion, there is always some physician willing to do the killing.

Please contact your state legislators and ask them to oppose this legislation.

W. James White

HAMILTON

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Assisted suicide bill threatens disabled

All of us, particularly those who have a chronic illness, are disabled, or are senior citizens, should look carefully at the pending assisted suicide bill S2259/A3328, euphemistically termed 'Death

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